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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia is preparing to bring an additional 30,000 North Korean troops into its war against Ukraine, a move that would dramatically expand Pyongyang's direct involvement in the conflict if confirmed. "We also see Russia's cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops," Zelensky said in his nightly video address, according to Reuters. He added that preparations to receive the troops had been underway since June in Russia's Voronezh region. The claim comes nearly two years after North Korea first sent troops to support Moscow under a growing...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would be the best possible outcome if it helps save Ukrainian lives. He also said US President Donald Trump now understands that Russia, not Ukraine, is the side unwilling to end the war, Zelenskyy said in an interview with American far-right blogger Laura Loomer. Ceasefire is preferable to a prolonged war President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's top priority is saving lives, which makes a potential ceasefire a better scenario than a multi-year war for the sake of military victory. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine has not abandoned its goal of winning the war, but...

In the skies over eastern Ukraine, an aging F-16 fighter jet has reportedly scored a rare victory against one of Russia’s most advanced warplanes, the Su-35. The US has finally confirmed what the Ukrainians claimed earlier this month: a Ukrainian F-16 fighter, donated by NATO, may have downed a Russian Su-35 Flanker-E, the backbone of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). “I want to highlight the incredible work that the Ukrainian industrial base is doing. It ranges from their surface-to-air capabilities to their air-to-air capabilities. I’ll note that recently we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down...

From the outside, this was shaping up as a strong year for wartime Ukraine. Ukrainian drones are burning Russia’s refineries and starving occupied Crimea of fuel. Moscow’s summer offensive has stalled on most parts of the front, and Ukraine is taking back territory. In Washington, a president who spent last year berating Kyiv has warmed to it again. But suddenly last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismantled what looked like a winning team — removing his popular defense minister, his prime minister and, late Tuesday, the acclaimed commander in chief of his armed forces. Zelensky, the comedian turned president who has...

Days after Lithuania said its intelligence services had caught Russia preparing sabotage against the infrastructure that ties the Baltics to Europe, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys drew a public line. If those plans are carried out, he said, Vilnius will not treat the results as accidents. “If there is damage, or if there are casualties, it will be treated as an act of aggression, with all the due consequences,” Mr. Budrys said in an interview with The Washington Times at the foreign ministry. That means, he added, “not only the country’s self-defense but the collective defense of the alliance.” The warning,...

Protests broke out across Ukraine Thursday after President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his defense minister to allegedly appease his top military general, with troops warning that the political spat could spell doom in the front lines. Zelensky’s Wednesday night decision to fire the tech-savvy Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, resulted in demonstrations across the country and even the resignation of a senior air force commander. While he was only appointed in January, Fedorov has been credited for accelerating the Ukrainian drone program, which has decimated Russia’s forces and kept the invading army largely at bay in 2026. Fedorov lamented the fallout and claimed...

A satellite image has confirmed the destruction of the Russian border patrol ship Izumrud, Ukraine's Navy announced on July 14. The service published the imagery on its official Telegram channel, showing the vessel wrecked alongside a quay wall. "We continue to reduce the potential of the Russian aggressor at sea," the Navy wrote. Ukrainian forces struck the Izumrud with a Sargan-3000 uncrewed maritime system near Novorossiysk. The Navy reported that members of the Russian crew were killed and wounded, without disclosing precise figures. Launched in 2014, the Izumrud was a second-rank border patrol ship operated by Russia's Federal Security Service....

The United States has taken delivery of 2,000 Ukrainian F10 attack drones after manufacturer F-Drones secured a Pentagon contract during the opening phase of the Drone Dominance program. The shipment follows Ukraine's first official export permit for completed combat drones, marking a notable change from earlier approvals covering mainly technologies, components, or accessories. The delivery also comes as the Pentagon advances the next stage of its broader $1.1 billion Drone Dominance initiative aimed at expanding domestic and allied unmanned capabilities.

Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a stark warning to NATO: Europe cannot afford to wait years for a new generation of anti-ballistic missile systems while Russia continues expanding its missile attacks. Speaking at the NATO Defence Industries Forum in Ankara, the Ukrainian president said ballistic missiles remain “Russia’s last major advantage” and called for the rapid development of affordable, mass-produced European air-defence systems. His warning came after Russia launched another devastating missile and drone assault on Kyiv, killing 26 people in the second major attack on the Ukrainian capital in just four days. The strikes highlighted a growing weakness in Ukraine’s...

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) carried out a large-scale overnight strike on July 6, hitting 47 Russian military targets, including two fuel tankers transporting gasoline to temporarily occupied Crimea, two S-400 Triumf air defense launchers, an oil depot in Kerch, and a Nebo-U radar system. SBS Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi on June 6 described the operation as one of the most significant recent strikes against Russian military infrastructure. According to Brovdi, among the most significant targets were two tankers from Russia's so-called shadow fleet operating in the Sea of Azov. The vessels were transporting fuel from the area of Taganrog...

The Ukrainian Air Force says a "serious shortage" of interceptor missiles meant none of the 23 ballistic missiles fired by Russia at Kyiv on Sunday night were shot down. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed for allies to take "strong decisions" at this week's Nato summit to provide Kyiv with air defences. After the strikes, he said the Ukrainian military had been successful in intercepting cruise missiles and drones – but not ballistic missiles. Zelensky warned that Moscow would continue to hit residential buildings as long as defensive Patriot missiles "remain in our allies' stockpiles".

Soot-choked “black rain" has fallen across multiple districts of Moscow after Ukraine launched its largest-ever drone assault against the Russian capital, scoring a direct hit on a vital energy facility. Close to 200 long-range strike drones targeted the metropolis early on Thursday, overwhelming local air defences and setting the strategic Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya ablaze. As thick columns of dark smoke billowed thousands of feet into the air, residents in the southeastern suburbs and surrounding towns, including Balashikha and Lyubertsy, reported a fine, oily drizzle that coated vehicles, streets, and clothing in a dark, toxic residue. The multi-directional aerial...

Moscow has come under the largest Ukrainian attack since the start of the full-scale war, with close to 200 drones hitting targets around the Russian capital and setting columns of thick smoke billowing high into the sky. Seventeen people were wounded in the Moscow region, according to local governor Andrei Vorobyov. Almost 1,000 drones and four Ukrainian cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed across the country in 24 hours, Russia's defence ministry was quoted as saying. An oil depot was struck in the southern Rostov region, where one person was killed. Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had once again hit the...

Ukraine is seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from its allies, Defence ​Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Wednesday at a joint ‌press conference with his Dutch counterpart. A Ukrainian defence source told Reuters last week that Ukraine would make the request on Thursday at a meeting ​of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an alliance of ​more than 50 countries also known as the Ramstein ⁠group that provides financial and military aid for Kyiv. Fedorov ​said that of the nearly $40 billion funding already announced, Ukraine saw $24 ​billion in the supply schedule. He added that Ukraine has been...

French President Emmanuel Macron revealed Tuesday that he had a “difficult” meeting with President Trump the previous evening as the closely watched G7 summit got underway. “Yesterday we had a difficult discussion with President Trump,” Macron told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of a group session about Russia’s invasion of its neighbor. The tension is reflective of the strained relationship between Trump and Macron as well as other European leaders, who remain frustrated with the American president over his war with Iran, threats to annex Greenland, and his critiques of Zelensky and Ukraine. “Trump is being his usual self,” a...

More than 80 years after Ukraine’s Dormition Cathedral was razed to its foundation during World War II, the reconstructed holy site was again engulfed in flames on Monday. The cathedral, a popular Christian pilgrimage destination, was struck when a wave of Russian attacks across multiple cities killed 11 people and injured dozens more, the Ukrainian government said. Two drones also struck the historic monastic complex in Kyiv that is home to the cathedral, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a post on social media. Videos verified by The New York Times show fire crew members on tall cranes, spraying...

Ukraine is seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from its allies to cement what it sees as its ​current battlefield advantage over Russia, a Ukrainian defence source said on Friday. The request will ‌be made next Thursday at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an alliance of more than 50 countries also known as the Ramstein group that provide financial and military aid for ​Kyiv. Russia's advances have slowed this year - effectively grinding to a halt last ​month - as Ukrainian mid-range drone strikes have harmed its supplies and ⁠logistics for the front line. Long-range...

Strongman Vladimir Putin was forced to halt his annual Russia Day showcase in Moscow’s Red Square for the first time in 23 years Friday, after a Ukrainian attack battered key energy targets and sparked massive fires on Russian soil. Kyiv launched drone strikes overnight into Friday on critical Russian energy and transportation points, including the Armiansk Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea with the motherland. The bombing of the bridge “completely paralysed” a key logistical route and destroyed about 50 vehicles carrying fuel and ammunition, according to Ukraine’s 1st Separate Assault Regiment Da Vinci. Moscow’s centerpiece Russia Day concert was hastily...

The European Union announced it would resume membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova on Monday. “All member states agreed to open the first accession negotiations cluster with Ukraine and Moldova,” EU President Antonio Costa said in a social media post on Friday. The announcement came after the new government in Hungary agreed to drop its longstanding veto against Kyiv. The European Union formally opened entry negotiations with Ukraine back in June 2024, kickstarting a complicated undertaking that usually takes years and involves negotiations on anything from agriculture to the rule of law. Launched as a powerful statement days after Russia’s...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he had a "positive" conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and praised what he called their readiness to work on a settlement of the Ukraine war in the coming weeks. "A very positive conversation," Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app about the conversation during a stopover in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau. "Grateful for the readiness to work as actively as possible already in the weeks to come to give a boost to diplomacy for ending Russia's war against Ukraine," he wrote.